Harald Matsuyama
Harald Matsuyama (*June 29, 3563) is a Hulstrian liberal politician currently serving Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Liberale Volkspartei. Ethnically, he is half Hulstrian and half Kunihito. Life Born into relative poverty in rural Hilgar, he initially worked in various dead-end jobs, before, with 27, he had saved enough to go to university, where he read economics and management. After graduating with honors, he went on to become a financial analyst at the Kien stock exchange, and later a hedgefund manager. Politics Matsuyma entered politics as an economic advisor to the Budenlar branch of the Liberale Volkspartei. Despite his big business career, he was from the beginning known as an advocate of "compassionate liberalism" and has called on the LVP leadership to focus more on equality of opportunity. He also favored abolishing tuition fees, and is a supporter of school vouchers in order to enable poor children to attend private schools. He entered the Diet in the 3601 general election, presenting himself as a self-made man and paying for his campaign out of his own pockets. He was elected MdR for the vibrant multicultural coastal city Luthorische Bai. In 3604, Emilia Lahnsteiger appointed him to the frontbench while the LVP was in opposition to the communist government of Sascha Meinhof. As finance spokesman, he has been extremely critical of the Communist government's tax plans, which he believes would "stifle opportunity for ambitious, hard-working people." In 3606, the radical parties were swept away in an election which brought the Septembrist parties back to power. Lahnsteiger became Staatsministerin in a coalition with the HDV and appointed Matsuyama Minister of Finance. In that position, he tried to implement an ambitious budget plan cutting taxes for high-and low-income earners while slashing spending significantly. However, the cuts were later reversed when the economy started to boom und revenue came in stronger than expected. Matsuyama attributed this to miscalculation. Despite the flawed predictions Matsuyama's budget was based on, the party believed that his tax cuts and the generally strong economic development would help the LVP in the 3611 general election. However, the opposite was true, and the HDV won the election convincingly. Matsuyama ran for LVP Chairman when Lahnsteiger resigned, and defeated Ariane von Gehrfeld in the contest. He then led his party into a new coalition with the HDV under Franziska Schäfer. As Chairman, he tried to move the LVP away from sharp libertarianism, stressing his social liberal credentials. However, this failed as the libertarians regained momentum after Health Minister Dr. Leida Weigel (HDV) proposed a highly paternalist smoking regulation bill, which included warning signs, an employment protection clause and new licensing systems for cafés. Emilia Lahnsteiger, who saw her legacy as former Health Minister under threat, denounced Weigel's bill sharply, criticizing it as harmful to business and nanny-statist. Matsuyama allowed a free vote on the bill, and a minority of social liberals in the LVP helped to pass it in the end, which infuriated the right-wing and weakened the Chairman even more. But it became even worse for Matsuyama when Hans Mende and three other LVP MdRs broke away from the party in 3614 to form Die Sozialliberalen, a left-liberal party that opposed the LVP's alleged shift to the right. For a short time, it was speculated that Matsuyama might get ousted even before the 3616 election. In the end, he managed to hang onto his post, as he received Lahnsteiger's endorsement in late 3615. Ahead of the election, the LVP campaigned on a triumvirate strategy, which presented Matsuyama, Ariane von Gehrfeld and Klaus Zinnberger as a team. The logic behind it was to let Matsuyama appeal to the urban middle and working class, Zinnberger to the rural population and von Gehrfeld to the bourgeoisie. Although the LVP made gains in urban Crownlands, the 3616 election was overall unsuccessful, as the party was overtaken by Mende's new formation, which literally absorbed the voter base of the former Social Democrat party, which was destroyed in the election, losing all of its seat. The LVP itself lost only six seats and won first place in Budenlar, Matsuyama's home Crownland. Nonetheless, he announced his retreat from national politics in June 3616, admitting that "(...) I could not deliver the firm leadership and popular appeal the Liberal party needs to become competitive again against conservatives and leftists." When he was already on his way out, he worked out the coalition agreement for the renewal of the Hosian-Liberal alliance under Janna Goddestreu. Afterwards, he switch to Crownland politics and became Minister-President of Budenlar. Category:Politics of Hulstria & Gao-Soto Category:Hulstrian and Gao-Soton people